Bafana Bafana defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele says they will not underestimate their opponents when they take on Niger in their next encounter in the African Nations Championship.

South Africa will come into this fixture high in confidence after claiming a 2-1 victory over Guinea at the Mandela National Stadium on Monday.

The win sees them remain in third place in the Group C standings with four points from their first two matches.

Mphahlele says they are heading into this encounter with a “strong mindset” and will “fight to protect the badge” when they face Niger on Friday.

“For us as a team, we never underestimate anybody. We treat each game with respect and approach it with a positive mindset. One of the strongest components we have in our team is we’re mentally very strong,” Mphahlele told SAFA.

“We don’t look at the name of the country. Whoever we play against, we always try and give our best because we know that we’re representing our country.

“So, whether we play Niger, Sudan, or Nigeria, we can never walk onto a football pitch and think we’ve won the game already. We go out there every day to suffer, to protect the badge and to fight for our country.

“So, in this team, there’s never a moment where we look at the country and say it’s a small country because they haven’t won a game, and then we approach it with a negative mindset. We always focus and play to win. So, whether it’s Uganda, Niger, Guinea, Algeria, we go in with the same mentality,” he concluded.